All Posts by Gary Brideau

Well here we go the final four, New York versus New Jersey and Los Angeles versus Phoenix. Who will win their Conference finals and go on to battle for Lord Stanley’s Cup? One thing is for sure it might not be necessarily who you think it should be. The thing that especially holds true in this year’s playoffs is unpredictability.  If you had told me that the Coyotes were going to make this year’s final four I would have given you one of those looks or simply chuckled out loud, but here they are.

Before the season started I made my predictions on where I felt the Eastern Conference teams would finish after 82 games. Needless to say I did not fare so well as a couple of teams underperformed and others had a much stronger season than expected. In the end I predicted five of the eight playoff teams that have made it and three of those picks were right on the money as far as where they seeded. The two teams that really made me look bad however, are the Ottawa Senators and the Florida Panthers.

With only five games left to go in the season, Geoff Molson has made an announcement that will make Hab fans everywhere rejoice. Pierre Gauthier has been fired!

Along with Gauthier, Bob Gainey has also been released of his duties while Larry Carriere has stepped down as assistant coach to return to his front office job until a new GM is appointed.

Coming off a disappointing effort versus the Maple Leafs on Saturday, Montreal embarked on their Western road trip with their first stop in Calgary. You knew the Flames would be ready for this match up as they desperately needed the two points in order to keep pace with the other teams in their Conference.

With the trade deadline come and gone, Montreal returned to action Tuesday night looking to turn their fortune around. There were a few lineup changes as Montreal swapped Louis Leblanc for Blake Geoffrion with the Bulldogs and inserted Brad Staubitz who was picked up off the waiver wire yesterday afternoon. This also marked the first game that the Habs would play without the services of Andrei Kostitsyn as he was reunited with his brother Sergei in a trade with the Nashville Predators.

After a poor performance versus the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, Montreal returned to action in a match-up versus the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. The game was billed as being one to look forward to as it marked the return of former Habs Stephane Robidas, Michael Ryder and Mike Ribeiro to the Bell Center. What made the game even more appealing was the fact that both teams are fighting to climb back into the playoff picture and Montreal had a habit of bouncing back after bad games as of late.

To no one’s surprise the Montreal Canadiens have traded veteran defenseman Hal Gill today. The former Stanley cup winner and thirteen year vet will now bring his services to the Nashville Predators. Along with Gill Montreal also included a conditional fifth round pick in 2013. In exchange, the Habs received a second round draft pick along with two players in their twenties who will most likely be sent to the Hamilton Bulldogs.

After hanging on for a victory against the Islanders on Thursday night, the Habs traveled to Toronto for an important match up with the eight placed Leafs. The Leafs chose this night to honor their former captain Mats Sundin with a brief ceremony prior to the game. If management hoped that the ceremony would inspire a victory versus the Habs, their plan failed miserably as the complete opposite occurred.

After splitting their weekend matinees versus the Caps and Jets, Montreal welcomed the pesky Pittsburgh Penguins to the Bell Center Tuesday night. This is a team who has been a thorn in the Canadiens side this season, as they have one all three previous outings with two of them coming in the form of comebacks.

Coming off a lousy performance versus the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, Montreal headed to New Jersey hoping to bounce back. The Devils on the other hand were looking to improve on their eight place position while widening the gap between themselves and the Habs.

Montreal came out as the hungrier of the two teams as they attacked the Devils zone right off the first shift. Their determination prevailed at the 4:11 mark when Rene Bourque banked one off of David Desharnais’ visor who was crashing the net. The puck crossed the line and the Habs had the early lead.

The Habs bizarre season continued last night as they hosted the red hot Detroit Red Wings, a team who won their last seven games. You knew the Wings would be a little weaker without the services of their all-star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who was out with the flu but no one could of predicted that the Wings were about to be embarrassed by the Habs.

After winning their first game of the New Year against the Jets, Montreal welcomed the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Bell Center Saturday night looking to go two for two in 2012. The Habs started the first period with lots of energy but it was the Lightning who struck first. At 3:24, Vincent Lecavalier fooled Carey Price with a quick deflection from the side of then net off of a Domenic Moore shot. The goal also fooled the boys upstairs, as it was originally credited to Moore but was later corrected after they reviewed the footage.